With that, Shiller took a medical record off the shelf beside him, flipping through it as he spoke, "You have some post-traumatic stress disorder from the war, but it's not severe. Your previous medical record shows that you have almost recovered."
"Your current symptoms could be indicative of acute anxiety, that is, sudden panic attacks. Do you know what you're afraid of?"
"No, there isn't," Steve denied. Shiller didn't press further, instead he looked into his eyes and asked, "What aspect have you been thinking about more recently? The past? Or the future?"
"The past, I like to reminisce about the past," Steve quickly replied, but Shiller kept staring into his eyes. Steve began to breathe a little more raggedly, then said, "Okay, actually, it's the future, but I don't know what I'm worried about."
"This is also a typical reaction, let me repeat, you don't need to be nervous about this. I understand that during your time, psychology and psychiatry weren't very common. You might not have even come across these fields, which is why you might feel that your behavior is unusual."
"But in fact, anxious emotions and anxiety disorder is an extremely common state. Among the people you know, Stark, the Blade Warrior, and SHIELD Agent Hill, we all suffer from anxiety disorder. 80% of the SHIELD agents I have encountered have a history of it."
Steve was taken aback, it was a bit hard for him to imagine all of this. Shiller followed with, "In your time, it wasn't that people didn't suffer from this disease, it was just not diagnosed. Even if someone realized all this, they were too embarrassed to admit it."
"Right, your flare-ups are a bit sudden, and both breathing techniques and light hypnosis have not been helpful, so medication might be necessary."
"Do you have any allergies? Or do you have any major events upcoming that prohibits you from taking sedatives?"
"No, I..." Steve pressed his fingertips into his eyes, saying, "I don't want to take the medication, I think... I can manage..."
"Alright, I understand that those who are first-time medication users can be very resistant. My principle is, if you feel very distressed, then I will prescribe you medication, if you think you don't need it, then you can try to adjust on your own."
Steve shook his head, but didn't say anything. When his handsome face showed the less subtle signs of pain, he looked like an Greek statue, enveloped in a melancholic aura unique to the Romanticism movement.
"Okay, let's chat, it will help you relax."
As the sun outside the window gradually climbed higher, by the time Steve walked out of the clinic it was already midday. He had intended to grab a quick bite to eat, but then realized he not only forgot his wallet, but his phone too, leaving him with no option but to walk back to the base on foot.
As soon as he returned, Peter excitedly approached him saying, "Captain! Big discovery!"
Steve perked up, soaking in the sunlight during his walk had done wonders in making him feel better, he asked Peter, "What big discovery?"
"Remember that new surveillance system I mentioned before? We've identified a suspicious vehicle."
Steve quickly walked over, looking at the monitor he asked, "Which one? Can it be traced?"
"Here, it hasn't been seen since it left New York State last night. But we did find that it passed the same place twice: a phone booth in a park."
Steve speculated, "That might be the contact method with the employer. I've seen many such cases, they use public payphones for contact."
"Should we install surveillance? If they call again, I should be able to monitor the conversation."
"No, they rarely use the same phone more than twice, two times is already the limit. We should go now and see if we can find any clues from the phone booth they used before."
The two of them immediately drove to the location Peter found. When they arrived, the place was deserted except for three telephone booths lined up. Steve asked Peter, "Can you pull up the call records?"
"I can try." Peter went back to the car, grabbed his toolbox, then started working. In the meantime, Steve was beginning to feel uncomfortable again. He shook his head sharply to clear his senses.
He slightly regretted not taking Shiller's advice to get some meds, but he also felt that he didn't have the time to catch up on sleep. He was aware of an inexplicable fear within him, but he didn't want to admit that this fear had anything to do with Hydra.
At that moment, Peter, while fiddling with a bunch of wires, said, "There seems to be a clue. Usually, these public telephone booths don't leave behind dial records, but I should be able to determine the numbers by the current... let me see..."
After a while, just as Steve was beginning to feel a stiffness in his back and was looking for a place to lean on, Peter shouted, "Got it!"
Steve quickly came over and asked, "How is it? Did you get any clues?"
"I got a string of numbers, but I'm not sure if it was disposable, we can try calling."